Hello,
New to pool ownership, and new to the forum.

We just bought and moved into a new home in Ontario, Canada with a mostly rectangular (corners are angled) inground pool appox 18'-36', and approx 8' deep (i think, only based on jumping in, so not too scientific of a measurement).

The pump is a Hayward self-priming pump, and a sand filter. I've noticed that the suction from the pump is very strong - too strong in fact for the desired settings on our auto-pool vac (Barracuda G3). My skimmer has both the main drain and vacuum line in it, both are open. My pump however does not have any valves on it - just an intake from the pool (1 intake only), and outflow to the filter. The guy at my pool store said to try and partially close the valve..... which I don't have. My question is - should I install a valve? Is it as easy as cutting the inflow pipe, inserting a valve, and re-joining? If I do this, I will likely do it when I close the pool in October, or open the next spring.

Thanks!